- Federal Government warnings must be followed by action
Recent warnings by the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, of a looming pest invasion must be quickly acted upon if the consequent scarcity of agricultural produce is to be prevented.
It appears that Nigeria is being threatened by swarms of quela birds, locusts and grasshoppers, which are likely to migrate from neighbouring Niger. The country is already under attack by the extremely destructive army worm.
Agriculture is the biggest contributor to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), reaching 24.18 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2014. The adverse effects of production shortfalls in agricultural output due to pests will spill over into the larger economy, especially in employment and inflation. If nothing is done, food scarcity could lead to huge increases in prices across the whole range of staple foods, further compounding the economic difficulties many citizens are facing.
Even though it is Africa’s second-largest economy, Nigeria already faces daunting agriculture-related challenges. It is ranked the 14th hungriest nation out of 119 countries; its Global Hunger Index score of 32.8 is a marginal improvement in what has been a steady decline over time. The country failed to meet the critical Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving hunger by 2015. The pest invasion can only worsen matters if it is not effectively addressed.
The Federal Government intends to liaise with the Nigerien authorities to fight the pest menace. There are plans to acquire a crop-spraying aircraft to begin spraying already-affected farms in Jigawa, Yobe, Sokoto and Zamfara states. Chemicals will be provided to combat the locust and army worm invasion.
While these measures are commendable, it cannot be denied that they are essentially reactive solutions to an endemic problem of pest and disease attacks, which require a more fundamental approach if they are to be properly dealt with.
Apart from the tomato disease outbreak that occurred in April this year, Nigerian agriculture has routinely suffered the depredations of pests and diseases. In May, maize farms in Akwa Ibom State witnessed the outbreak of corn earworm attacks. Avian influenza has ravaged the poultry industry; Blackpod disease threatened cocoa farms at the beginning of the year.
If this situation is to change, it will require a substantial improvement in the country’s weather-forecasting capabilities. Many pests migrate in consonance with meteorological changes; the more closely those changes can be monitored, the better the movements of pests can be predicted, and more comprehensive preparations made to deal with them. This will require international cooperation, since pests do not recognise national borders. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is especially relevant in this regard.
Another useful idea might be to expedite action on the Federal Government’s Green Alternative policy which seeks to comprehensively reform the agriculture sector and thereby enhance its already-significant contributions to the national economy. In particular, the increase in extension services would be helpful in training farmers in the best ways of coping with pest and disease attacks.
Nigeria also needs to build on its often-unacknowledged wealth of traditional farming expertise. Indigenous methods for dealing with pests have the advantage of being cost-effective, culturally relevant and easy to disseminate. With a little modernisation, the country’s farmers ought to be able to respond effectively to the attacks of traditional pests instead of waiting for assistance from outside.
It is crucial that the pest invasion is treated as the national emergency that it is. Agriculture has become even more important to economic development than it hitherto was, and nothing must be allowed to hamper its continued growth.
